Ironing apparatus



Nov. I5, 1966 E. E. FOSTER IRONING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 9, 1965 J INVENTORN E. FOSTER EDWIN Nov. 15, 1966 E. E. FOSTER IRONING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 9, 1965 IIEJVENTOR EDWIN FOSTER Nov. 15, 1966 E. E. FOSTER IRONING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 9, 1965 INVENTOR E FOSTER @flttys.

EDWIN United States Patent 3,284,934 IRONING APPARATUS Edwin E. Foster, Austin, Tex., assignor to Majik-Ironers, Inc., Austin, Tex., a corporation of Texas Filed Aug. 9, 1965, Ser. No. 478,343 9 Claims. (Cl. 3830) This invention relates to ironing apparatus and more particularly to an iron lift apparatus which supports an ordinary hand or steam iron for movement in a horizontal plane above an ironing board and which permits lowering of the iron on to the ironing board for ironing when desired.

Ironing apparatus of the same general type has heretofore been proposed as, for example, in my prior patents, No. 3,137,953, No. 2,954,619 and No. 2,939,230. There is, however, a demand for a simpler, less expensive and lighter weight apparatus than those heretofore proposed and the principal object of the present invention is to supply this demand.

Another object is to provide ironing apparatus in which an extremely simple iron supporting linkage is provided to support the iron of movement in a horizontal plane.

According to a feature of the invention, the linkage is formed by two pivotally interconnected rigid arms and a flexible tension link such as a cable so arranged that the cable can flex to permit raising of the iron at any time.

According to another feature, the linkage is so proportioned and connected that as the linkage and iron are moved out from the supporting structure, the iron tends to be raised so that it will tend to move by gravity toward the supporting structure.

Another object is to provide ironing apparatus in which all of the operating mechanism for raising and lowering the iron is mounted in a supporting housing which can be permanently or detachably mounted on a wall or which can be connected to a table or the like.

Still another object is to provide ironing apparatus in which the supporting linkage is carried by a vertically movable support rod rotatably about a vertical axis on a vertically movable support member.

According to a feature of the invention, the support member is mounted for vertical movement in a vertical tu bular extension on the supporting housing and carries bearing brackets projecting through a slot in the extension in which the support rod is journaled. The support member is moved vertically by an electric motor controlled through a circuit including a switch on the iron handle which is operated when the user grips or releases the iron handle.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of an ironing aparatus embodying the invention showing the supporting housing mounted on a wall;

FIGURE 2 is a partial sectional view with .parts in elevation showing the housing and the iron in storage position;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a elevated diagrammatic view of the iron supporting linkage; and

FIGURE 5 is a wiring diagram of the control circuit.

The apparatus in general, as shown in FIGURE 1, comprises a supporting housing which may be permanently or detachably mounted on a wall or other desired supporting structure such as a table or stand. The housing containsall of the operating mechanism for raising and lowering the iron and is adapted to be connected to the usual source of household electric current for heating the iron and supplying power to the operating mechamsm.

The housing, as shown, includes an upwardly extending tubular extension 11 within which a support member 23 is vertically movable as desired. The support member carries bearing brackets 12 projecting outwardly through a slot in the housing extension and in which a support means shown as support rod 13 is journaled for turning about a vertical axis. The support rod carries a simplified iron support linkage which includes a rigid arm 14 pivoted to a bracket 15 at the lower end of the support rod and a forearm 16 pivoted to the free end of the arm 14. The frame 16 has an enlarged head 17 which projects beyond the point of pivotal connection to the arm 14 and which is connected through a flexible cable 18 to the upper end of support rod 13.

The geometry of the linkage is illustrated in FIGURE 4. As shown, the point of connection of the arm 14 to the bracket 12 is below and at one side of the top of the support rod 13 to which the cable 18 is pivotally connected. In the stored position, the arm 14 and forearm 16 are substantially vertical, as shown in FIGURE 4, so that the lower end of the forearm to which the iron illustrated at 19 is connected will lie closely adjacent to the support rod 13. As the iron and free end of the forearm 16 are moved away from the vicinity of the support rod, the cable will cause swinging of the forearm 14 and will guide the free end of the forearm. The parts are preferably proportioned, as shown in FIGURE 4, so that the free end of the fore-arm will tend to raise slightly as it is moved out. This accomplishes two purposes, one of which is to provide for any yielding of the linkage so that the iron will not fall below its initial horizontal level and, secondly, to elevate the iron slightly as it moves out so that it will tend by gravity to move to stored position. It will be appreciated that the amount of rise of the end of the forearm can be adjusted by design and positioning of the pivots to accomplish the desired purposes.

As best seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, the housing extension 11 is of a relatively small section compared to the main lower portion of the housing and is rectangular in section with a slot in the forward side thereof. The housing may conveniently be mounted on a wall by securing a supporting plate 21 to the wall With headed button 22 projecting therefrom to be received in keyhole shaped openings in the back wall of the housing and extension. It will be appreciated, of course, that permanent mounting means could be employed or that the housing could be provided with suitable clamps for securing it to a table or the like.

The housing extension 11 receives a vertically elongated support member 23 which is preferably in the form of a rectangular section rod and which carries guide rollers 24 to guide it for vertical movement in the housing extension. The brackets 12 are secured to the support member 23 and extend through the slot in the housing extension rotatably to receive the support rod 13 so that the support member and support rod can be moved vertically in the housing extension.

The lower main portion of the housing 10 contains an electrical motor 25 which operates through a crank 26 to raise and lower the support member 23. Preferably, the motor is a gear head motor driving the crank through a gear reduction 27 to provide a relatively high torque and low speed movement of the crank. The crank 26 is connected through a constant compression spring 28 which is preferably of the type more particularly disclosed and claimed in my patent, Reissue No. 23,974 to a bushing 29 carried by the lower end of the support member 23. Preferably, a similar constant compression spring 31 is connected between a bushing 32 on the lower end of the support member and a bushing 33 fixed to the housing to counterbalance a portion of the weight of the iron supporting linkage and iron.

The motor is controlled by a pair of fixed switches 34 and 35 mounted on the motor for actuation by a cam 36 driven by the motor synchronously with the crank and by a third switch carried by the iron itself. As shown, the iron is connected to the free end of the forearm 16 by a bracket 37 having a ball and socket connection to the free end of the forearm and pivotally connected to the iron body on an axis transverse to the length thereof. The iron carries a switch mechanism in its handle which is normally biased to one position by a spring and which is moved to another position, when the iron handle is gripped by an operator, by a lever 38 pivoted on the iron handle. As best seen in FIGURE 5, the lever 38 is biased upwardly by a spring 39 so that an extension 41 thereon will normally engage the operating member of a switch 42 and bias it to a position to close a circuit between the lower switch connection and the middle switch connection. When the handle 38 is pressed down, it will release the switch operating button and will close a connection between the lower switch connection and the upper switch connection, as seen in FIGURE 5. It -will be understood that elements 39, 41 and 42 are located in the iron handle at the base of lever 38.

The complete circuit is shown in FIGURE with the power source indicated at 43 and with the heating element in the iron shown at 45. When the circuit is energized, the heating element will be energized to heat the iron, the usual thermostatic control for the heating element being omitted. When the lever 38 is released, the parts will occupy the positions shown in FIGURE 5. In this position, the cam 36 is turned with its single cam lobe facing upwardly to engage and open the switch 34 with the switch 35 being normally closed. At this time, the motor 25 will be deenergized and the parts will remain in the position shown with the support member 23 being elevated to elevate the iron supporting linkage and the iron to hold the iron in a plane above the ironing board, as shown at 44, in FIGURE 1. When the operator grips the iron handle to use the iron, the lever 38 will be depressed to establish a connection between the lower connection on the switch 42 and the upper connection thereon. At this time, the motor 25 will be energized through the closed switch 35 and will continue to run until the cam 36 engages and opens the switch 35. At this time, the crank 26 will be moved down to lower the support member 23 and to allow the iron to rest with its full weight on material on the ironing board. The operator may then proceed with ironing in the usual manner.

When the operator releases the iron, the lever 38 will return to the position shown in FIGURE 5 to reestablish a circuit between the lower and intermediate connections on the switch 42. The motor will be energized through these connections and through the switch 34 and will continue to run until the switch 34 is opened by the cam 36. The crank 26 will then have moved to its upper position to raise the support member 23 and to elevate the linkage and the iron to a position above the ironing board. Due to the construction of the linkage as previously described herein with respect to FIG. 4, the iron will tend at this time to swing toward the supporting housing to a stored position.

At the completion of an ironing operation, the apparatus can be disconnected from the source of power and the iron can be moved to the position shown in FIGURE 2 closely adjacent to the housing for storage. In case the housing is permanently mounted on a wall, the parts can remain in this stored position until future use is required. Where the housing is detachably mounted either to a wall or table or similar support it can be disconnected from its support and stored in any convenient location simply 4, by resting the bottom of the housing on the floor or other supporting surface.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and is not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. Iron lift apparatus comprising a vertically elongated support means, a rigid arm pivoted to the support means below the top thereof on a horizontal axis, a rigid forearm pivoted to the free end of the arm on a horizontal axis, the forearm including an elongated main portion extending in one direction from its pivotal connection to the arm and a head portion projecting a relatively short distance in the other direction from said pivotal connection, a tension element connecting the head portion to the upper part of the support means above the pivotal connection of the arm thereto, and connecting means at the free end of the forearm main portion for supporting an iron.

2. The iron lift apparatus of claim 1 in which the support means is a vertically extending rod and means are provided supporting the rod for rotation about its own axis.

3. The iron lift apparatus of claim 1 in which the tension element is a flexible cable which will flex to permit raising of the forearm and iron but which is inextensible to prevent downward swinging of the forearm about its pivotal connection to the arm.

4. The iron lift apparatus of claim 2 in which the means supporting the rod is mounted for vertical move-' ment and power means are provided controllable from the iron for raising and lowering said means.

5. Iron lift apparatus comprising a housing adapted to be fixedly mounted, a vertically elongated support member mounted for vertical movement in the housing, vertically aligned bearing brackets carried by the support member and projecting through a vertical slot in the housing, a vertical support rod journaled in the bearing brackets, an iron supporting linkage carried by the support rod, an iron carried by the linkage and supported thereby for movement in a'horizontal plane, a motor in the housing to move the support member vertically, and a control circuit for the motor including a switch mounted on the non.

6. The iron lift apparatus of claim 5 in which the iron supporting linkage comprises an arm pivoted to the support rod below its top on a horizontal axis, a forearm pivoted to the free end of the arm on a horizontal axis, and a tension member connecting the top of the support rod to the forearm at a point spaced from its pivotal connection to the arm to guide the free end of the forearm for movement in a horizontal plane.

7. Iron lift apparatus comprising a housing having an enlarged lower portion and a vertically extending tubular portion projecting upwardly therefrom and formed with a slot in one side, a vertically elongated support member in said tubular portion mounted for vertical sliding movement therein, bearing brackets carried by the support member and projecting through said slot, a vertical support rod journaled in the bearing brackets, an iron supporting linkage carried by the support rod, an iron carried by the linkage for movement in a horizontal plane, a motor in the enlarged lower portion of the housing connected to the support number to move it vertically, and a control circuit for the motor including a switch mounted on the iron.

8. The iron lift apparatus of claim 7 which the-iron supporting linkage includes a rigid arm pivoted to the support rod beneath its top on a horizontal axis, a forearm pivoted to the free end of the arm on a horizontal axis, a tension link connected to the top of the support rod and to the forearm at a point spaced from its pivotal connection to the arm, the arm and tension link being 3,284,934 5 6 so proportioned and connected that the free end of the References Cited by the Examiner forearm and the iron tend to rise as they move away from the support rod whereby they tend to move to a position UNITED STATES PATENTS I adjacent to the housing by gravity. 1,566,043 12/ 1925 Simmons 3842 9. The iron lift apparatus of claim 7 in which the 5 tubular portion of the housing is rectangular in section AN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. and the support member carries Wheels which roll against the sides of the tubular portion. G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IRON LIFT APPARATUS COMPRISING A VERTICALLY ELONGATED SUPPORT MEANS, A RIGID ARM PIVOTED TO THE SUPPORT MEANS BELOW THE TOP THEREOF ON A HORIZONTAL AXIS, A RIGID FOREARM PIVOTED TO THE FREE END OF THE ARM ON A HORIZONTAL AXIS, THE FOREARM INCLUDING AN ELONGATED MAIN PORTION EXTENDING IN ONE DIRECTION FROM ITS PIVOTAL CONNECTION TO THE ARM AND A HEAD PORTION PROJECTING A RELATIVELY SHORT DISTANCE IN THE OTHER DIRECTION FROM SAID PIVOTAL CONNECTION, A TENSION ELEMENT CONNECTING THE HEAD PORTION TO THE UPPER PART OF THE SUPPORT MEANS ABOVE THE PIVOTAL CONNECTION OF THE ARM THERETO, AND CONNECTING MEANS AT THE FREE END OF THE FOREARM MAIN PORTION FOR SUPPORTING AN IRON. 